As the Longhorns bathe in the exultation of being a Top 10 team for the first time since 2010, the Baylor Bears are enjoying their first real success under second-year head coach Matt Rhule.

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A pair of kickers took center stage over the weekend, and both programs are feeling a little giddy. Cameron Dicker and Connor Martin are enjoying some rare adulation in a conference where quarterbacks have taken the lion’s share of the headlines for nearly two decades.

Dicker, Texas’ freshman, shook off some prior struggles and added his name to a prestigious list of booters to score walk-off wins in marquee games. His 40-yarder beat Oklahoma. Martin recovered from a tough day at the office to help Baylor send Kansas State home with a loss.

Remember Dusty Mangum, who kicked Texas to its first Rose Bowl win back in 2005?

Remember Hunter Lawrence, who kicked the Horns into the 2009 national championship game with his winner over Nebraska?

Remember Justin Tucker, who kicked the decisive blow in the Texas-Texas A&M series at Kyle Field in 2011?

Remember Nick Rose? Uh, never mind.

With the way the Horns are playing lately, and if the prognosticators are correct — Texas is a 17-point favorite over the Bears at home — Dicker could be back to kicking mostly extra points, which would be fine with him.

Martin missed three field goals and an extra point before his 29-yarder with 8 seconds left gave the Bears a 37-34 home win over the Wildcats. Rhule said Monday that he he has tried all types of psychological methods to get the best out of his kicker before.

“I tried one time being nice,” Rhule said. “I tried one time saying, ‘Do you want me to put somebody else in?’ I tried one time saying, ‘You can do it.’ But I think at the end of the day, what was really cool was that it was him.”

For the rest of Cedric’s Nuggets, including his thoughts on Mike Stoops’s ouster and Dallas Cowboys head coach Jason Garrett’s overtime decision making, click here.

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